Do You Recommend Google Maps API or Microsoft Live Maps? 252
KSobby writes "The organization that I work for is going to be redoing our website in .Net/AJAX. On the site, our members will have profile pages listing where their organizations are located (our members are scattered throughout the world) as well as other pertinent information for the general public. It is a non-profit organization, so funds are tight. My question to you: If we include maps, which API do we go with: Google or Microsoft? We're in a Microsoft environment (we're non-profit and Microsoft basically gives us everything for free) but the ubiquity of Google may be enough to sway us. Has anyone used either extensively? Used them in conjunction with .Net?"
I let google answer (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
OMG the irony.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Hrmm.. not for me. Check out screenshot [lfi.net]
Re:I let google answer (Score:5, Funny)
In my experience (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
For Google Maps, I've found a simple wrapper class that cuts down immensely on the code,
and similar projects are bound to exist for
maps work in pretty much any browser.
Compatibility (Score:5, Insightful)
Want to know where Google gets their mapping tech? (Score:2, Informative)
They also host services, just like Google does, that you can connect to via their API's. Those API's are made to be OpenLS compliant, AJAX friendly, and other good things.
Disclaimer: I haven't written any code to work with their stuff, I haven't been with the company since 2003, I don
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
They are not the same product and it sounds like you haven't even used Live before.
No, they're not the same. Live Maps is not as feature-mature as google maps. Live maps has a larger download footprint due to extra css and js files that most map developers will not need. Live Maps lacks good sat imagery for a very large portion of the globe.
Gotta suck to always have a computer that is handicap in the experience they get to see and use.
I wouldn't know, I use linux which has had an accelerated 3d desktop and a fully indexed filesystem for a few years now, has several really sweet development environments
Re:Compatibility (Score:5, Interesting)
I think that people should seriously consider using both depending on their needs. If you're looking to do international mapping Google is probably the way to go but if you're going to be centered in large metro areas in the US and you're looking to use SWEET aerial photos, Microsoft's Live Maps kick ass (75m, far more recent than Google Maps, and better resolution).
I live and die by Google Maps API for what I need at work (plotting interest and applicant levels by zip code) because it's easy for people to use and many are already familiar with it. That just works for what I need but that doesn't mean that it's the best option for every application.
*shrug*
Re: (Score:2)
Google however works flawlessly in Konqueror, whereas Live doesn't work at all in Konqueror.
Re: (Score:2)
I'll admit to not having tried Safari, but Live Maps works flawlessly for me on Firefox.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Open in what sense? Source code? No - neither.
Platform agnostic? Google
go with google (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:go with google (Score:5, Funny)
Re:go with google (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Google Maps (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Microsoft. It took me 4 hours to port our software to Vista, and that mostly had to do with a (nonMS) driver and a (MS) dll issue. The trick to MS backwards compatibility is to not use the undocumented shit. SimCity broke when they went to 95 (they actually installed a patch in the OS for it for compatibility reasons), because of undocumented "features". Case in point, the permissions that they set up in XP were
Re:Google Maps (Score:4, Insightful)
The issue isn't Microsoft's desktop backwards compatibility issues (which is debatable in itself). Thing is, Windows and MSN/Live/etc. just happen to exist in the same company, otherwise, nothing is really shared between them. When you compare Microsoft to Google with respect to maps APIs, you need to compare Google to MSN/Live/etc., which has seen many name and strategy changes and is far less mature than Google's offerings. Google APIs are consequently more stable and less likely to change.
A conservative approach will therefore recommend Google APIs. They are more seasoned, more tested, work on more browsers, and used successfully by far more organizations and businesses.
Re: (Score:2)
That might be true, but how is it relevant as a comparison of backwards compatibility?
Microsoft doesn't randomly revoke API access [slashdot.org]. So that would lead me to contend that Microsoft API's are more likely to be useful in the future, even if they change on occ
Re: (Score:2)
Your second point is correct, Google did act suspiciously in that instance. They do not have a perfect track record. Still, given the overall situation, I would use Google's web APIs instead of Microsoft's - at this point in time. Perhaps in a few years Microsoft's offerings will mature well, wh
It goes beyond that. (Score:2)
Certainly Microsoft (Score:2, Interesting)
If you're a business, doing real business things, you always want to go with Microsoft solutions. I've recently discovered the absolute incredible ease with which Microsoft handles business clientel -- i.e. me.
Google owes you nothing -- you aren't Google's customer. They make no money off of you, nor anyone like you. They'll gladly ignore all of your wants and desires to please their profit centres -- and rightfully so, it's a business. Microsoft needs
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
He doesn't need their Enterprise offering as long as the site is free. His only data is point data which the free API handles fine for his purposes.
Re: (Score:2)
I assume it's a pain in the arse because you have to write in VB6. However, would you mind supporting my Mac OS 7 apps? Thanks!
Re: (Score:2)
This is true but not worth much. Software purchases usually go wrong because of mistakes made by the customer, not the vendor. The vendor delivers the software as promised, and it turns out to be subtly incompatible with your needs, or integration turns out to be insanely expensive. Then how do you get your money back? You'll certainly never get back the money you
Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)
Google... With the caveat that their 'backwards compatibility' will actually be 'have not upgraded/updated in two years'.
Backwards compatibility? Not MS (Score:2)
Well, not MS, for sure. Almost each time someone from outside the company sends me some stupid MS Visio file, I need to find "who has latest Visio?", ask him to convert to PDF and send back to me. Funny, but time consuming.
Stick with MS (Score:2, Insightful)
Microsoft API experience (Score:3, Informative)
Documentation was key for me (Score:3, Informative)
Personally, I wrote a local API for it in the language I'm working in, Water [waterlanguage.org], and let Water deal with all the Google stuff for me. By mixing Water's AJAX features with Google's map API, I was able to create a fully AJAX enabled map API which notifies the server about every user action on the map, including clicking, dragging, etc, and deals with user initiated actions in an object oriented manner (for exa
OpenStreetMap? (Score:2)
Even though it is not complete in most regions, it sounds very promising imho. And it is free! [wikipedia.org] (as in freedom AND beer)
Re:OpenStreetMap? (Score:4, Informative)
I'll say. The entire city of Philadelphia is missing, and it's not exactly a small city. In fact, looking at the eastern US, it's pretty much useless at this point. Alas.
OpenStreetMap uses OpenLayers.org (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
While I like what they're doing, this would require far more work than he needs to put into it. You might as well tell him to take the TIGER/LINE data, load it into PostgreSQL+PostGIS, write a geocoder, setup UMN MapServer and use OpenLayers in the web client. It's all Free! Of course he'll need to install Proj.4 if he wants to do any reprojections and he'll definitely need GDAL/OGR, FreeType, GD (or AGG if you want anti-aliasing).
Don't get me wrong, I love all the Free Software out there for GIS on the
About to make the switch (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Go with Microsoft, get MapCruncher (Score:5, Informative)
MapCruncher rocks!
Google Maps overlays (Score:2)
A while back I implemented a system that would monitor the status of devices at various locations and each little overlay would make AJAX calls to the status server and change their image accordingly. On mouseover they could resize and include more in-depth info.
Now I'm not saying it's an alternative to
Checkout refin.com's comparison (Score:5, Informative)
Use Mapquest Posts (Score:2, Interesting)
Public Class clsMapQuest
Public Function getURI(ByVal sAddress As String, ByVal sCity As String, ByVal sState As String, ByVal sZip As String, _
ByVal eAddress As String, ByVal eCity As String, ByVal eState As String, ByVal eZip As String) As System.Uri
Dim url = N
Re:Use Mapquest Posts (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Try this (sorry, no capital letters, typing out of my head):
dim sb as new stringbuilder
sb.append("http://your_long_url_but_possibly_broken_down_into_logical_parts_like_below")
sb.append("&1g=&1pl=&1v=&1n=&1pn=")
sb.append("&2y=US&2ffi=&2l=&2g=&2pl=&2v=&2n=&2pn=")
sb.append("&panelbtn=2")
sb.appendformat("&1a={0}&1c={1}&1s={2}&1z={3}", sAddress, sCity, sState, sZip)
sb.appendformat("&2a={0}&2c={1}&2s={2}&2z={3}", eAddress
Re: (Score:2)
XSS? (Score:2)
OpenLayers.org API ! (Score:5, Informative)
Do both. Seriously. (Score:5, Informative)
Do both. Seriously.
One of the oldest rules a downstream manufacturer (that's you) should follow is "avoid supplier lock-in". If you code with only one of these software titans in mind, you're subject to their terms. If you code for both, you can tell one vendor to zark off and/or play one rep against the other at pricing/ad-rev negotiation time.
Oh wait - you're a small non-profit with free Microsoft software? In that case there's no reason not to go with Microsoft. Development in 100% Microsoft tools is better than anything Google has...
Google maps == Google earth (Score:4, Informative)
So you can easily do pretty-ultra-eyecandy that also works well when viewed just through the web.
Re: (Score:2)
EG, see here:
Cool Eyecandy Map [google.com]
is from the kml file http://www.icsi.berkeley.edu/~nweaver/dad.kml [berkeley.edu]
Google Maps...but. (Score:3, Informative)
But I would look around for an asp.net control that wraps the api. There was one on the code project that doesn't work anymore.
Microsoft Live Maps might have a wrapped api for you that could reduce the development time.
It's simple. (Score:2, Funny)
Data (Score:4, Informative)
For example [live.com], when I-74 was built, McKinney Road was re-routed to Hwy 601. The map has the correct positioning for I-74, but it still shows the old path of McKinney Road, even though the new path is visible in the image.
On the other hand [google.com], Google shows the roads correctly, but you can't zoom in the imagery nearly as close.
So its a matter of priorities. Do you want accurate or pretty?
Re: (Score:2)
Google shows all of The Netherlands and Denmark in hi res, Microsoft barely recognises these countries.
Maps, maps, maps.... (Score:2, Offtopic)
Re: (Score:2)
That's probably also why their stuff sucks - it's been around for ages. We're comparing an early web player to new web offerings.
Actually niether (Score:4, Informative)
I set up a website for a brick-and-mortar store about seven months ago on my Mac. I then went to Google's maps and provided a link for directions. Then Google quit working with Safari browsers. Now, I know Apple's browser has its problems and has so many that many Mac users are not using the Apple-supplied beta browser because of problems with their release version but I cannot afford for anyone to not be able to load a map due to a problem with someone's map API. So I switched the website to use Mapquest. [mapquest.com]
Yes, I know that Mapquest is a slag-heap of a company since AO-Hell purchased it. I also know they're not innovating, they're just resting on their laurels and being used to provide AO-Hell with cash. But it works with all browsers I tested on Windows and Macintosh platforms, including some pretty obscure ones like iCab and Netscape's Navigator 2.0. Unless of until I get absolute assurances from Google that they'll never roll out new code again unless they test it first, I'm not using Google Maps for anything.
Haven't tried Microsoft's. Probably won't either as they won't work well with Macs or Linux or Unix and I cannot afford to disenfranchise anyone.
Google works with Safari... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Google (Score:2, Insightful)
"Doing your website" in a programming language (Score:3, Insightful)
This is sooooo 1999.
You should be using a CMS/framework where such issues have been resolved, [drupal.org] and focus your time/energy on the (few) places where you can create unique value.
Re: (Score:2)
oh yeah, that's right. we did. we just called it something else:
"beat head against desk until something comes out"
meh. =p
I'll recomment google maps (Score:2, Informative)
Who will be using what you develop? (Score:3, Informative)
Google endeavors to support a much broader range of browsers than any of the Microsoft websites support. Give the users of what you are developing a choice, don't force them to use Microsoft's IE in order to take advantage of the functionality of your website.
Depends on location (Score:2)
While google maps have satellite images all over the planet (and maps for many places) the time I tried both, Microsoft totally lacked any images of the country I live in now (Costa Rica).
Since at the time I was working on a site that needed local satellite maps and some from other Central American countries I had to select google maps.
Your mileage might vary, and in the last year MS maps might have changed.
Just my 2c, if you are US only t
Why bother asking ... (Score:2)
Try them both (Score:2)
Define your goal. (Score:2)
If your goal is to provide a standards-compliant service that works well with a wide variety of clients, use Google.
If your goal is to support Microsoft's goal of controlling and dominating everything to the exclusion of anything else, and to hell with compatibility or interoperability, then by all means use MS.
Argentina? (Score:2)
I don't know why, but it has no data (apart from satellite photos) for the country:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=-35.56798,-65.126953&spn=24.428851,35.551758&z=5&om=1 [google.com]
psst, just because they are free, you are not (Score:2, Troll)
also, WTF? You picked Microsoft because "everyone else uses...bla
Redfin dev blog (Score:4, Informative)
License (Score:2)
First Mistake (a deliberate semi-troll 8-) (Score:2)
I know, what a lightning rod for the flame wars, but my position isn't without reason.
Seriously, this platform is based on the idea that a person wanting to compile a program in a reasonably provable languages just cannot live without "system calls" written in visual basic. But having made that mistake, the question of which mapping API to use is valid.
In terms of integration, you will be more happy using the MS maps API. I know this sight-unseen because I know some of th
Bad for you (Score:2)
Welcome to a big, endless swamp that is web 2.0. Noone knows what it is, everyone talks about it.
Google (Score:2)
I'd go with Google, and for one reason. Whenever someone gives me a Google Maps link, it works. Whenever someone gives me a MS Live Maps link, I don't get a map, I get some kind of "where do you want to go today" screen with two text entry boxes and no map.
Maybe it's because I use Mozilla (if it works with Firefox, it should work with Mozilla), or maybe it's because I don't have a Live account (like I'd ever want to), but I haven't seen one link work yet. (Actually, I think it worked about two years ago wh
Re: (Score:2)
Commercial web sites must put customer experience near the bottom when it comes to mapping, because I mostly see second-rate map links on company web sites. Even image-sensitive brick-and-mortar business like restaurants usually provide crude and unusable maps. Every prospective custome
google (Score:2)
Google apps is free for non profits - slightly ot (Score:2)
Google's is simple (Score:2)
You're both wrong: Yahoo! (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Go with Microsoft. They actually have a privacy policy.
Yep, we own you. You cannot sue us. We reserver the right to change policy any time we want and you have no rights. Your privacy is as good as public, as we don't guarantee nor warranty anything.
Not that I trust Google much more, but realize everything does not have to be Microsoft to be good.
Re:Google will spy on your members (Score:5, Informative)
You mean the link that says "Privacy Policy" at the bottom of the Google Maps API page [google.com] which links to, maybe, the google privacy policy [google.com] doesn't actually exist?
Dang. My mind is more powerful than I thought!
(for reference, the MS Maps privacy policy is here [microsoft.com]).
How about this then? (Score:4, Informative)
Err... (Score:4, Interesting)
In the mean time, didn't Microsoft & Yahoo turn over dissidents to China? And didn't Google refuse the subpoena of user data from the US government when Microsoft & Yahoo gave it over without question?
I understand paranoia about your identity perfectly well. It just seems stupid to focus on the smaller threats when there are larger ones nearby, you know?
Actually, maybe I understand the paranoia better than you. I mean, you posted that while logged in...
Re:How about this then? (Score:5, Interesting)
Did you actually read that report? In my humble opinion, it was basically some guys opinion dressed up as a scientific study. There was no repeatable methodology and the author didn't even bother to fully fill out the matrix. Go read the comments on the story you linked to, if you want to get more detailed commentary.
Incidentally, I say this as a very biased person. I work for Google, on Google Maps. As per usual, what's written here is my own opinion and not that of my employers. I won't comment on the Google vs Microsoft debate - it's not my place to do so - but I'd like to say that I've seen first hand (and participated in) the very strict procedures we have in place to protect peoples privacy.
For instance, I'm one of the very few people who have Maps logs access (ie, I can see cookies and IP addresses), and that's only because I work directly with the servers on a day-to-day basis and do abuse handling as part of my job. The vast majority of Maps developers have no logs access at all. I have to periodically rejustify my access, I'm not allowed to track any individual cookie or IP address for longer than 24 hours, my own usage of the logs is recorded and audited, I'm not allowed to take the logs out of their secure holding area and am not allowed to give logs in non-scrubbed form to anybody else. Violating these rules is grounds for instant termination. Contrast this with ISPs which sell clickstream data [seekingalpha.com] on the open market.
I'm not trying to make any statement of policy or anything, because that's not my job, but if end-user privacy is going to be a deciding factor in which maps product to use, hopefully now you have more insight into how seriously we treat end user data (what I described applies to all Google products by the way).
Re: (Score:2)
>> I'm not trying to make any statement (......)
Sure you aren't......
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:How about this then? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
How seriously you treat our data doesn't matter; if the government and its legal apparatus wants to get our data from you, they will. You shouldn't be collecting our data to begin with. Google has no better policies than Microsoft in that regard.
If the government wants to snoop on you, and they get a court order, they will. No private company can avoid that happening.
I don't mind one bit of the US Military, CIA, NSA, or the President Himself wants to know what I had for breakfast, what websites I visit, or what the last porn site I visited was. We're talking about the equivalent of a harbormaster watching you as you leave port, not the redcoats breaking into your house and disrupting your life.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Not everyone or everything should run linux. And I've been u
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
But trolling became an addiction to me... soon I was doing everything I could to get a rise out of fellow netizens. I basically spent all my time trolling Slashot and other various forums. Of course Slashot was my favorite trolling ven
Slashbot Rhyme (Score:5, Funny)
Coz them news for nerds makes sense to me
So let this serve as a warning to the spammers and trolls
You may have a fat pipe but you ain't got bawls.
There's a new manifesto by ESR
And the stats of the watts of a hybrid car
I gots love for Perens and miguel, et al
And I voted CowboyNeal on the Slashdot Poll
I'm Microsoft bashin' like every single day
Coz the OS got holes and Exploder's teh gay
Now SCO's talkin' trash so I give firefox a ride
To reply as a Coward so I can hate on McBride
I will flame you with language I won't say to your face
And I bet you can't guess who gots all your base
There's one way to know if your server is rotting
Just post a link and you'll get a slashdotting
You can mod me down coz I'm a karma whore
And I'm a decorated veteran of a recent flame war
Where they fought about an app with a K or a G
And a heated debate on what was meant by "Free"
As a slashbot, when Linux receives a threat,
My palms begin to sweat and my evil bit is set
You best believe I'll be posting a rant
And I'll be surfin' Slashdot 'til my mom says I can't.
Re: (Score:2)
I mean, I know there weren't any smileys or <sarcasm> tags. But still...
Of course, I could be suffering the same thing regarding your post. But if so, you are far too subtle for me.
Re: (Score:2)